Dead Sky
by HereticsRight
Summary: Wrote this a month ago but didn't feel like posting it at the time. It's not finished, and I'm still writing for it.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so I wrote up to Chapter 7 before posting the story at all, I figured I'd get ahead and do some serious writing on the story before posting so I'd be able to go back and change things so they'd all make sense. The only problem with this is that I stopped writing the story about a month ago to work on another one, so this one has just been sitting in Google Docs for a month. I was too lazy to edit any of these chapters, so you are definitely going to find grammatical errors and somethings that just don't make any sense. Just ignore them and report them in a review or something. I'm going to pick up writing this story again sometime soon, maybe even right after I post what I have. The only problem I'm having is that I already started another story because I needed a change in pace, so now I have this story and a BioShock story running at the same time.

So, Recap: There's going to be a bunch of grammatical errors, just jot them down on a piece of paper or something then write it down in a review so I can go back and fix it eventually.

From here on out until Chapter 8 is stuff I wrote a month ago and didn't edit. I'm working on 8 right now.

Note: This story eventually merges with my other story, Red to Blue. You really don't have to know about that story at all, though, so don't bother reading it if you don't want to. All that you need to know is that there's another person like River on Serenity, his name is Miles, but his operations weren't finished. He's less crazy than River, but can't control himself when he gets pissed off. There might be some references to the other story, but I'll keep it to a minimum so people can just read this and know what the hell is going on.

Dead Sky Ch1

Doctor Cunningham adjusted his coat. He leaned back, scratching at the stubble that covered his face. _I'm gettin' too old for the military._

The Alliance transport, Swift, glided through space. It was an aging vessel, used to transport soldiers from planet to planet. It was currently bringing soldiers back to the inner planets, some of the soldiers were wounded, some of them were shell shocked, and some of them were simply heroes who the Alliance didn't want to die.

Dr. Cunninham was an Alliance doctor. He served for the military taking care of soldiers after they were brought off the front line. His current project was keeping one soldier alive. The soldier was badly wounded, Cunningham didn't know what was keeping her alive. Both of her legs were gone, her entire left leg and the right leg from just above her knee. Her right arm was missing, her left arm was cut off at the elbow. There was a huge hole in her stomach, now covered by a plastic cover and bandages. Shrapnel wounds filled most of her skin. Her head had been left mostly untouched, other than a fine spray of shrapnel that had already been removed. Cunningham wasn't even sure what could have caused so much damage, it was a miracle that the woman was still alive. _And this wasn't one of those "Oh, she beat cancer" miracles, this was a bona-fide "this woman is missing more body parts than I can count and is still alive miracle."_

Cunningham leaned over the woman, checking the folder at the end of the bed. The front read "Sky Mooreson." Cunningham didn't bother checking inside the folder, there were so many injury reports it made him a little sick. She used to be an average sized blond woman, now she was missing her legs and her hair was burnt brown from some kind of flame. Her body was covered with a blanket, keeping her warm and keeping people from seeing the extent of her wounds. Only her head showed. Noon Mooreson, Sky's brother, was stationed on the ship as well. He probably would have been taken off the front lines even if Sky hadn't been shot up, he was a big hero. His rebel kill count was off the charts.

Cunningham didn't keep up on current affairs, but he made his own version of what was happening. _So there's this big rebellion on some of the outer colonies because the Alliance couldn't supply them as well as they needed. People started shooting each other and boom, full blown war against a bunch of guerrilla groups._ The war wasn't really a war, the rebels didn't have a chance of fighting the Alliance head to head. Instead the little bastards hid in towns and cities surrounded by innocent civilians and attacked the Alliance wherever they could. _There were civilian casualties, and it's all the rebels' faults._

Cunningham settled down for a nap next to the equipment keeping Sky alive. The equipment would make enough of a sound to wake him up in no time if anything went wrong.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Cunningham woke up. A tall dark haired man was shaking his arm. "Doctor? You awake?"

Cunningham checked the mans uniform. He wore a slew of medals and the stripes of a sargeant. His name tag was labeled "Mooreson." Cunningham jumped to his feet, resisting the urge to salute the man. Cunningham was only in the civilian sector, wasn't actually considered a soldier despite his serving the Alliance military. "Yes sir, I assume that you are Sky's brother."

"That's right. How is she?"

"Well...She's badly...damaged."

"I know the extent of her injuries, I just need to know her condition."

Cunningham sighed, he was glad that he didn't have to explain all of the ways that Sky was injured. "Well her condition right now is as good as it can be, considering..." Cunningham pointed at the torn body. "I don't know what's keeping her alive, but she's a tenacious survivor."

Noon nodded, tears in his eyes. "She's my little sister. She joined the military because of me. The second I signed up she did too. I couldn't stop her. It was the dumbest thing she ever did. She's a pacifist, you know. She used to play fight me, but I've never seen her use anything even close to violence on a person. She shot a gun at someone once, and that was when the man was about to kill another soldier." Noon stroked the Sky's hair, rubbing out some of the brown to reveal the blond underneath. Noon frowned. "She was a front line mechanic. Someone up top wasn't thinking and put a pacifist girl on the front lines as a battlefield mechanic. Gorramn it, she's only 21." Tears were sliding down Noon's face, dripping onto the blanket that covered Sky. "I...I need to go." Noon swept out of the room, wiping away tears as he went.

Cunningham sighed, things were so stupid in war. There was a reason he was trying to help people like Sky instead of out on the front line killing people. He settled back in his old position, falling back to sleep.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
A wailing klaxon blared. Cunningham jumped awake, frantically looking over all of Sky's equipment to find out what was wrong. None of the machines were showing any sign of any sort of failure. Cunningham relaxed. _If it's not these machines, then what is it?_ The klaxon blared again. It was coming from the hallway, one of the stress alert klaxons.

Cunningham didn't know what to do. Men were running through the hallways outside, on their way to their stations. Cunningham didn't have a "station," his only job was to take care of Sky.

The comm. cut through the klaxon, which reduced volume to accomodate the captain's voice. "We have a Reaver contact on our tail, we are calling for Alliance support now. Everyone stay calm."

_Stay calm? They just announced a Reaver attack!_ Cunningham knew better than to panic though, there was nothing that he could do in this situation. _Can't panic if I don't have control of anything. _Cunningham knew that Swift carried a complement of soldiers, plus all of the hero soldiers that were being shipped back to the inner colonies. They wouldn't do much against a Reaver attack. Cunningham leaned back against the wall. _I knew I was getting to old for this job._ He rubbed his chin, looking at himself in the mirror. His stubble was part gray, his hair was short and speckled with gray. _Probably should have gotten out when I could._

Time crept by. Cunningham waited alone in his room with Sky, keeping completely silent. Cunningham vowed silently to himself to keep Sky safe. _It's my job to keep her safe, for her sake and Noon's._ Cunningham hauled Sky onto a stretcher, maneuvering the stretcher under the bed. He hung the blankets from the sides of the bed down to the floor, completely hiding Sky. He pulled the blanket over Sky's face, making sure that she could still breath. _It's a miracle that she can breath on her own. Lucky, too, if the power goes out she would be toast._ _Dead toast._

Cunningham detached all unnecessary machines, hanging an IV drip under the table that provided her body with nutrients. Cunningham also wrote on the inside cover of Sky's folder, "Check under bed! -Dr. Cunningham". He left the folder on top of the bed, writing on the front "Check inside front cover." He was afraid that Reavers could read, which is why he didn't write where Sky was on the front cover. No Reaver would check inside of the folder even if it did say "Check inside front cover" because they simply did not care.

Noon stepped in the room. "Where is she?"

Cunningham pointed under the bed. "I'm hoping that they don't look under there. Even if they do she's covered in blankets. I did my best to hide her."

Noon's face was worried, but gracious. "Thank you Cunningham. I owe you a beer when this all blows over."

"You think we're going to survive?"

Noon grimaced. "No chance in hell. I still owe you a beer though."

"Nice to know." Cunningham noticed that Noon was looking out the door a lot. "You should probably go and help the other soldiers."

"I just need to check on my sister." Noon knelt under the bed, pulling the blankets aside. "Maybe some day I'll see you on the other side. Remind me that I owe the good doctor a beer."

Noon drew a sidearm, throwing it to Cunningham. "I'll owe you two if you use this." He pulled the sheets back into position around Sky, hiding her, then strode out of the room.

Cunningham nodded. He didn't know how to use a gun, fortunately he only needed to know how to pull the trigger. He wouldn't make it to a point that you needed to know how to reload.

Minutes crawled by. The captain's voice sounded over the comm. system again, a simple message. "Prepare for boarding." Cunningham had correctly guessed that Swift had stopped moving for some time, but hadn't been sure because of the artificial gravity. A sudden jolt rocked Swift, a ship had attached to the hull. Shouting and gunfire echoed through the hallways. Cunningham looked over his pistol. The screams of the dying bounced through the hallway into Cunningham's room. _No, I can't use it on myself. I'm going to get myself another beer._ Cunningham laughed to himself. "Look at me, Sky. I became a doctor so I would avoid fighting people. Look at me now. I'm an old man getting ready to fight for my... no, your life. The funny thing is I'm only forty five. That's old for the military, but I still feel young."

Another scream pierced his ears. Cunningham pointed the gun at the door. "You know Sky, the Alliance made the Reavers. Some people found that out when they went to Miranda. Had to go through the whole gorramn Reaver fleet. The Alliance fought the fleet too, but a lot of the Reavers got away." Cunningham shook his head. "And now here I am, talking to someone who is missing most of their body parts and isn't even awake."

A Reaver burst around the corner. Cunningham fired twice. "It's really not as hard as it looks. Point and shoot. You wouldn't know about that though, Sky. I don't blame you for being a pacifist, I myself don't believe in killing people. Reavers aren't people though." He fired another pair of shots as another Reaver leapt through the door. "Here they come Sky, but don't you worry, I'll do my best."

Cunningham took a deep breath. He stepped into the hallway, firing one shot after another. Three, four, five Reavers went down. A spear came flying toward Cunningham, slamming into his bicep and knocking the gun away. Cunningham fled down the hallway, leading the Reavers away from the room that Sky was in. The room wouldn't go unsearched, but at least they wouldn't tear the place apart. Cunningham jerked to one side as a huge dart buried itself in his leg. He didn't feel any pain, in fact, he didn't feel anything. He looked down at the spear in his arm. _Poison._ Cunningham smiled as he found a gun on the ground. He picked it up with his left hand, his right hand dangling uselessy.

Cunningham pointed the gun at the side of his head. He had seen enough of the military to know that this pistol would tear through his skull like butter._ I'm getting to old for this shit anyway. _He fingered the trigger just as a trio of Reavers appeared around the corner. Cunningham shook his head, tearing the pistol away from his skin and pointing it towards the Reavers. Two went down, the third raised his axe.


	2. Chapter 2

Dead Sky Ch2

Dead Sky Ch2

Sky was sitting behind a huge log. Her rifle lay on the ground next to her. Noon crouched next to her, firing shots every now and then, each shot finding a target.

"Come on, Sky, we're being shot at!"

"I know, we're being shot at because you are shooting back!"

Noon grinned, "Well, you're definitely acting like yourself. They'll fall back soon."

"Good, I hate all the shooting." A bullet smacked the log just above her head, sending chips of bark flying up through the air. "Why did they even give me a gun?"

"I think it was so that I can use your ammo." Noon leaned over and picked up her gun, using it to send a trio of shots out. "They really don't want to leave, do they."

"Maybe if we stop shooting they'll go on their own." Sky was pouring sarcasm into her words like syrup on pancakes.

"Fine then, I'll stop shooting." Noon lowered his gun.

"Really?"

Noon smiled, pulling out a comm. unit. "Really."

"Airstrike? Come on, just let them go!"

"They aren't gonna leave Sky."

"Remind me again why I followed you into the military?"

Noon checked his map, slowly telling the person on the other side of the radio the coordinates of the rebels. The comm unit clicked twice, the signal for success. Noon yelled over to another soldier, keeping his voice low enough so that the enemy couldn't decipher his words. "Birds incoming!"

The soldier nodded, continuing to fire. All around Sky and Noon soldiers were firing at the rebels. Sky unslung her backpack, pulling out a can of beans.

Noon nudged her, "Is now really the time for beans?"

"It's better than shooting people."

A huge salvo of explosions rocked the woods. A gunboat had opened fire on the rebel position, flying so low that it skimmed the tops of trees as it passed overhead. Soldiers all around Sky and Noon were cheering, making sure to keep behind cover in case any rebels remained. A squad of men approached the rebel position. The sound of single shots popped in the air a few times, but other wise the only sound was that of soldiers cheering for their victory.

Noon sat down next to Sky. "Now is the time for beans."  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky sat, once again, behind cover. Her rifle lay on the ground next to her. Noon was crouched next to her, firing shots every now and then, each shot finding a target.

"Why does it always seem like we're in the position?" Noon fired another shot.

Sky made herself a little bit more comfortable, shifting her back up against the low concrete wall. This battle was taking place in the middle of a small town, the street lights illuminating the battle. "Because this is the way that I like it. Well, I don't like any of this, but I like this better than any other way."

Noon hauled on a section of Sky's armor. "Come on, they're pushing forward again."

"Again? Fine, I'll get up."

Noon loped back to a position much farther back. Sky struggled to her feet, making sure that she was behind cover. A flurry of fire kept her stuck at the low wall. She held on to her helmet, her back up against the wall. Sky decided that she wouldn't run until they stopped shooting. A soldier that she didn't know yelled to her, "Come on, fall back."

Another flurry of shots flew over Sky's position. _Not going in that._ The roar of a gunboat calmed her, she hated seeing people die, but people dieing when they wanted you dead wasn't so bad. The gunboat streaked right towards Sky. Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening. "Oh shi-" A huge explosion blocked her senses.

The scene dissolved to black.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky woke to a terrible headache. She couldn't move at all, her body hurt so much that she didn't want to. She opened her eyes a crack, the light was piercing. It took a long time, a full ten minutes for Sky's eyes to adjust. She looked around without actually turning her head. The lights were actually on extremely dim, the room's was gray with shadows. She was obviously in some kind of hospital, the steady beep from the machine behind her told her that much. The beeping quickened a little bit as Sky remembered what happened. _The explosion, what happened?_

A doctor rushed over. "She's awake!" Sky could hear the feet of many people running over. The faces of about twelve different doctors looked down on her. "Where am I?" Sky's voice came out as a croak.

One of the doctors asked her, "How do you feel? You are in a military hospital, we've been making you better."

"Last thing I remember was an explosion. What happened?" Sky couldn't talk in much more than a whisper.

"You were injured quite badly. We evacuated you on a transport ship, but it was attacked by Reavers. You were the only survivor the recovery team could find."

"What about my brother? Where's he?"

Several of the doctors coughed nervously. One of them finally spoke up. "Your brother was on the transport. The Reavers must have taken his body."

"Couldn't they have taken him prisoner?"

"All that we know is that there wasn't any sign of him on the ship except for this." The doctor held out the tag that read "Mooreson" and a medal of valor that Noon had won.

"But...he's not dead, right?"

"He's listed as missing in action, but there's no way that he is still alive." Another one of the doctors, a woman, tried to hush him. "Bob, don't just ruin her hope. Some people need to hang on to these things.

Sky shook her head. "Noon isn't dead. He's fine, they just haven't found him yet."

"That's highly unlikely Sky."

"Maybe the Reavers took him prisoner. You have to help him!" Sky tried to raise her head, but fell back because of the pain.

The woman shook her head. "Let's just not worry about it for now, we can find out what happened to your brother later."

"But I want my brother. He's the only one I have."

"What happened to your parents?" One of the other doctors slapped this man in the back of the head. "Didn't you read the file? They died in a ship explosion a while back. That's why she followed her brother into the military."

Sky groaned, her limbs were aching. She moved her head a little. "So what happened to me? Why do my arms and legs hurt so badly?"

"Well, you were caught in an explosion. Your wounds were...numerous. We have you immobilized right now, but pretty soon we'll have you up and around. The military has been working on a new project, and you are receiving the prototype treatment."

"You didn't answer why my arms and legs hurt."

The doctors looked at each other nervously. "Well, um, do you know what phantom limbs are?."

"Not really, something about arms and legs that aren't there."

The doctor pulled on his collar a little bit. "See, when a person looses an arm their brains think it's still there, but it isn't. So the brain basically decides it hurts like hell."

Sky coughed a little, "So I lost my arm then?"

"Yeah, your right arm is gone up to the shoulder."

Sky cut in weakly, "Good thing I'm left handed then, huh?"

The doctor shook his head. "You lost your left arm just below the elbow. Both of your legs are gone. The shrapnel did most of the work, the medical staff on site had to amputate the rest. There was a big hole in your stomach, but we patched that up with the new treatment."

"So am I going to be completely limbless for the rest of my life? I want Noon, where is he?"

"Noon is gone, honey. The new Alliance program will help with the, uh...limblessness."

Sky passed out again before they could fully answer her question.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky slowly woke up. Her eyes hurt even though she didn't have them open. It took a while for her eyes to adjust. At least the lights in the room were normal brightness this time.

More doctors stood over her than last time. "Why do my eyes hurt?"

One of the doctors stepped forward. "You've been out for a long time, they aren't used to the lights."

"How long?"

"This was a week."

"How long since the accident?"

"Four weeks and four days."

Sky shook her head a little bit. "It's been so long, I've been out this whole time?"

"Aside from your little wakeup before, yes. We finished your procedure a week ago, you should be all better really soon. The good thing is that you should get used to them extremely  
quickly."

Sky picked her head up a little. A blanket covered her. _That's odd, there are bumps in the sheet where my feet used to go. "_What are you talking about? What am I going to get used to?"

A new doctor stepped up. "Your new limbs, of course."

Sky used her legs to shift her body into a more comfortable position. _Wait...What legs?_ She pulled her right arm out from under the blanket. The light reflected off of it, a glistening white that almost looked like plastic. It looked almost normal except at the joints, where it was sectioned to allow it to bend.

Sky caught herself from screaming. "What the hell is this?" She moved the fingers, clenching them into a fist and back to normal again. "What the fuck am I?"

"Well, the Alliance took an interest in your little case, they need a person that will bring back faith in them. So they fixed you."

"What the hell did they do?"

"They've had a project going in bio-engineering for a while, trying to make parts that work like peoples' and animals' so that machines will work better. We just used it to make new limbs for you. It's made with a special kind of plastic, mixed with a metal. It's one of the most resilient materials I've ever seen."

"So I can walk again?"

"Why don't you try it now?"

"Aren't I still sick or something?"

"We kept you out for the last two days so that you would get better. The Alliance poured a lot of money into making your recovery faster, new kinds of drugs and such. Go on, try them out."

Sky felt a little sick as she sat up. Her head hurt a little bit, but not too much. She used her arm to pull the sheets back, a little bit disgusted by the way the arm worked. Sky gasped as she saw her legs, and almost threw up. The metal plastic went all the way up to her hips on both of her legs. The doctors had been nice enough to put some shorts on Sky, but she could see where the skin ended and the plastic began. Her left arm was slightly better, it only turned to plastic below the elbow. The plastic actually melded quite nicely with the skin, the size was perfect. Her real skin was darker than the plastic, so the the difference was pretty noticeable, not to mention the fact that every joint was sectioned in a way that looked almost human, but was still glaringly obvious.

Sky tried to ignore her stomach as she stood up. She had a T-shirt on, the doctors had provided that, but it was pulled up slightly by the side of her arm. A section of her stomach was covered with the white plastic, covering the hole that the doctors had told her about. "What the..." Sky threw up on the floor, the throw up spattering against her leg. Some kind of sensor was in the leg, it tried to copy the sensation of feeling. It didn't work very well. "What the hell did you do to me? You couldn't have just given me prosthetic arms and put me in a wheelchair? I wouldn't have minded, it would be better than being dead. Noon would be there to take care of me. Instead you...you turned me into a freak and killed Noon!"

One of the doctors tried to sooth Sky, as if she was a young child. "There, there, the Alliance is going to take care of you. You'll become a hero, go on parades and such."

Sky threw up again, her stomach wasn't behaving. "I don't want to be their little slave."

"Let's not get hasty, you need rest. I'm sure everything will turn out alright."

Sky lay down, she was awfully tired. _Maybe it's just a dream._


	3. Chapter 3

Dead Sky Ch3

Dead Sky Ch3

Sky woke up, sunlight streaming in on her face. She actually felt pretty good, her body hurt less than it did before. Everything was still pretty sore, but not half as bad as it was the last time she woke up. A small tray was balanced on a tiny table set on wheels. Sky pulled the table over, grimacing as she saw the plastic fingers grip the edge of the table. The limbs themselves felt great, they didn't hurt at all. The connections between the skin and the plastic was well done, or at least she guessed they were. She had no idea how these things worked. She had really only learned two things during her time as a battlefield mechanic. Hitting things with a wrench sometimes worked, and holding said wrench allowed you to say that the machine was broken without taking the blame.

Sky looked over the food on the table. _Ugh, hospital food._ Sky tore open the plastic wrap on top of whatever it was she was about to eat. The action was much easier than she expected, it took such little effort to tear the wrapping off. Sky picked up her metal spoon, holding it in front of her face. She watched as her hands bent the spoon as though it were rubber. She twisted the spoon back to its original position, using it to eat the mush that she guessed was oatmeal. A tear ran down the side of her face. _What did they make me? How am I supposed to fit in like this? Where is Noon? _Sky finished her breakfast in tears.  
XXXXXXXXXX

A doctor walked into the room, followed by two men in military uniforms. The doctor gave the two men space as they entered the room. "These men are here to talk to you. They'll take you with them as soon as we fill out these release forms."

Sky looked at her right arm, raising it to a salute after a moments hesitation.

One of the military men leaned over the bed. "I think that I can understand how you feel right now." He tapped his arm, which made a metallic ring. His fingers were immobile plastic, a real prosthetic. "We're going to make you a hero."

The other man handed Sky a small packet. "You've been given an honorable discharge, so you won't have to take orders from anyone. Now let's get you out of this hospital."

"What about my brother?" Sky tapped her fingers on her arm, making a quiet plinking noise each time a finger hit.

"We are investigating further into the incident on Swift."

"So what you are telling me is that you discharged me from the military, lost my brother, and expect me to be your little pet to show to everyone? That's not going to happen."

The military men looked at each other, slightly shocked that they were being denied. "But think about it, we will take care of all of your needs. All that you need to do is appear on a few news programs and parades, and take a few pictures for some advertisement campaigns."

"I'm not your dog. Go find someone else." Sky stood up, tottering a little bit as she tried walking on her new legs. Her steps were unsure, but the legs were much easier to get used to than she imagined.

The doctor tried to stand in her way. "Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to remain here, we just need to finish this paper work."

Sky opened the door. "I'm not interested in paper work." The walk down the hallway to the elevator was a slight distance. Sky's steps grew more sure with each and every plant of her plastic feet. The doctor followed her into the elevator, urging her to stay in the room.

"Like I said, I'm not interested."

"But you don't know anyone, at least take the Alliance's offer. You're going to be on the streets otherwise."

The elevator opened to the lobby. Sky walked over to the lost and found, pulling out whatever she could find. She lucked out, there was both a long sleeved jacket and some pants.

Sky's feet made slight ringing noises as she walked over the metal floor of the automatic doors. The hospital was in the middle of a city, not a very big one by the looks of it, but big enough that it deserved a full sized hospital. Sky stopped at a bank across the street, keeping her hands in her pockets. _What will people think? I'm not even a person anymore._ Sky bulled the automatic machine into ejecting some meager funds. The military didn't pay much unless you were an officer. The only real benefits were that you were fed and had a place to stay every night.

Sky sighed. She had been forced to use the machines retina scan instead of the standard finger print scan. Sky didn't even know what city she was in, but she needed to buy some gloves and shoes, and hopefully had enough to buy some real clothes. She set a moderate amount of what she had withdrawn aside in her coat pocket. That was for a ride on a ship. _First things first, clothes.  
_XXXXXXXXXX

Sky found a good looking store, lower middle class by the looks of it. The prices were cheap, so she was able to find two pairs of thin black gloves that moved up well past the wrist, and a cheap pair of boots that went halfway up the calf, far enough to keep her legs hidden if she wore pants. She added three of the cheapest pair of pants that she could find, three long sleeved T-shirts, a sweatshirt, and a backpack to hold it all.

Sky approached the register, hiding her hands under the small stack of items she was about to buy. She couldn't do anything about her feet but step lightly, trying to avoid making noises with her feet. She shoved the mound of clothing on the counter next to the register, immediately drawing her hands back into her coat pockets. A middle aged man checked all of the items with the little scanner, his eyes watching Sky suspiciously. Sky saw this, and looked the other way, jamming her hands as far in her pockets as she could.

The man totaled all of the purchases together, the register spitting out a little slip of paper. The man held out his hand.

Sky looked at it. "What?"

"You gotta pay, lady."

"Oh, well," Sky looked down at her pockets, "Fine." She took her hand out of her pocket, keeping all of her fingers completely immobile and hoping to disguise it as a prosthetic. "I was uh...in the military."

The man took the money, holding out some change. "I didn't ask." He handed over the backpack, filled with her purchases. Sky took the backpack, retreating to a changing room to put on one of her new sets of clothing. Wearing used pants wasn't something that she wanted to do all day.

She managed to find some underwear in another store nearby. Her remaining money was dwindling, she only had enough for supplies. Sky's bank account had very little money in it, she didn't want to withdraw any more money than she already had.

Sky started to walk towards the dockyard, hoping that she would find a ship before she had to spend extra on food.  
XXXXXXXXXX

Sky leaned against a wall, the dockyard spread out before her. The city had skimped a little bit on the dockyard, it was basically a big field with plots on it where ships could land. A tear ran down her face, which she brushed away with a gloved hand. _I'm going to find Noon. Things will be better when I find Noon.  
_  
A sudden rumble frightened Sky. _A ship?_ A sudden pang of hunger hit her. _No, my stomach._ _Better find a ship with food on it soon. _She gripped her honorable discharge in her hand. Her medical folder was in her backpack, Sky hoped that it had the report of where Swift was now or where Swift was attacked. Any clues she could find were better than nothing. _I've got to get off this rock before that happens, get away from the military. Maybe I'll find someone a ship that can take me to where the attack was._

Sky set off for the airfield, pushing her way through the crowds of people that gathered at every shipyard known to man. Sky was pretty independent, but she hadn't spent much time in urban settings. Her home planet was pretty rural, the biggest city Sky knew of on the planet was half the size of this one. She avoided the big groups of people, not knowing what kind of scams people ran out here. Sky was alone and not obviously carrying any kinds of arms, an easy target. _Well, I have arms, and dangerous ones at that, but no weapons._

Sky pulled up the hood on her jacket. It was lucky that she had picked this jacket from the hospital's lost and found, it was very inconspicuous. Sky moved towards the first freighter she saw, a hulking old beast. It was closed up, locked down by the owner. Small boards on poles posted where each ship was headed, but Sky didn't care. All she needed to do was find a ship that looked like a smuggler. She could tell the captain where the Swift lay, probably still stuck in space. Hopefully they would bite, Alliance ships carried some impressive cargo that could be overlooked in recovery operations, especially if the ship had been attacked by Reavers.

Sky flexed her hand inside its glove as she stopped at one of the sign posts, looking over the ships on site. _Find the right kind of ship and you'll find the right kind of captain._ Sky wasn't an expert on ships, but she had worked with Alliance customs officers. There were a few ships that they had bitched about, because the ships had so many places to hide things. A few ships caught her eye, including the old behemoth that she had already passed. _Probably doesn't work, that's why it's locked up._ Another was a newer ship model, a ship called the RapidChain. Sky hiked her backpack higher. The ship wasn't far away, but her hunger was mounting, much faster than she had expected. The sun was starting to sink, covering the ship yard with a yellow, almost orange sheen.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky arrived at the RapidChain, walking up to the deck. A young man sat inside, bouncing a ball off the wall and back again.

Sky wasn't sure how to start the conversation, stuttering for a moment before addressing the man. "Can I hitch a ride? I'll pay."

The man turned and laugh. "Who are you supposed to be? You dress awfully strange, you're not from around here are you?"

"No, can I get a ride?"

The man snorted through his nose. "Yeah, that's not going to work out. The boss man doesn't like pesky little travelers. Besides, we aren't going where you need to go, I can guarantee it."

"But-"

"Like I said, not going to happen."

Sky walked back down the ramp. _Well, there goes my big idea. I'll just go on any ship that will take me._

The next ship Sky saw was locked, as was the next one. _Oh what the hell, I'll just wait until morning._

Sky sat down next to one of the ships, finding a spot that was inconspicuous yet obvious enough that anyone about to take off would notice her. She settled down into her jacket, pulling the hood over her eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Dead Sky Ch4

Dead Sky Ch4

Sky jumped slightly. She was just nodding off when the grinding of an opening door woke her. Sky lifted her hood, peering out at the opening door just across from her. _Maybe my luck just got better._ Sky dragged herself to her feet.

The door thumped as it hit the ground, the doorway a yawning opening into a decent sized cargo ship. _Ship looks like a chicken._

A Sky turned as the sounds of footsteps approached from behind her. A tall man wearing suspenders and rugged clothing and a beautiful woman wearing a finer dress than Sky had ever seen approached from out of the darkness. They entered the doorway together, neither saying much. Sky walked up the ramp, rapping her knuckles on the inner airlock door frame.

"Uh, hello?"

The man turned, his hand flying to his gun which Sky hadn't noticed until now. Sky held her hands out in front of her. "No! Please don't."

"What do you want?"

Sky pulled her hood off. _That probably would have been a good thing to do before I entered the ship._ "I just want a ride."

The man let his arm drop to his side. "Mind tellin' me why?"

"It's the uh, military." Sky hesitated. "Sir."

"Well I should hope that you aren't a convict or anything. I have a few people on board that would just love to sell you out."

Sky rubbed her left forearm. "It's not like that, I was discharged but they want me for...parades and such. I just want to get away."

"Well then, I suppose that you can come along as long as you can pay, I'm no fan of the military myself. You can pay, right?"

Sky nodded. "It should be sufficient."

The man nodded, "Well then, welcome to Serenity. I'm the captain, Malcolm Reynolds." He held out his hand. "You can call me Mal I guess."

Sky extended her gloved hand, accepting the grasp. Mal gasped, "That's quite the grip you got there."

"What? Oh, sorry. I'm a little out of it right now. I don't suppose you have something that I can eat do you?"

Mal nodded, "It's just your luck, we were about to go eat." He turned, spotting the woman. "Oh, this is Inara. She's our ambassador if you will."

Inara smiled at Sky. "It's a pleasure. Don't suppose you have a name?"

"Oh, I completely forgot. My name is Sky."

Mal began to walk towards the back of the cargo bay, "Well, let's go show you around the ship then."  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky walked up the stairs, following Mal through the ship. Sky hadn't been on many ships, so she was completely lost as to what was what. Mal kept talking, telling Sky what room was what, and the way things happened on the ship. Inara had wandered back to her shuttle, which Mal pointed out on the way by. "We just picked her up again, she was gone for a little while." Mal stood a good at least a head taller than Sky, something reminded her of Noon. Mal finished up the tour of the lower section, showing Sky her room. Sky tossed her backpack on the bed, closing the door behind her.

Mal pointed to the stairs, "Ready to eat now?"

"Yes." Sky had been waiting for that question for a while.

"Alright, we took on two other passengers as well, so the table is gonna be a little cramped."

Mal led the way up the steps, which brought them to a hallway. Mal pointed down one way, "There's the cockpit, food's this way."

The doorway opened into a bigger room than most of the ones Sky had seen on the ship other than the cargo bay. The table wasn't completely full around there were still two seats left. A dark, curly haired woman wasn't even sitting, eating at the counter. Sky looked over the people eating, there was the curly haired woman, a boy and a girl that couldn't be more than seventeen, a big guy in a tight shirt, a woman wearing bright colors, a man wearing some kind of vest, a woman about Sky's age, and a man with huge glasses.

Mal pointed to the woman around Sky's age and the man with the huge glasses. "Those are our other passengers whose names I don't know yet."

The woman cut in, speaking with a thick cockney accent, "It's Layla." The man with the glasses cut in as well, his accent neutral, "I'm Karl."

Mal pointed at each member of the crew. "Little guy is Miles, the girl is River, this guy is Simon or Doc, the brightly colored one is Kaylee, this is Zoe, and the big one's Jayne. This, my friends, is Sky"

Jayne waved with his spoon.

Mal pointed to a chair. "That one's mine, but you can take the other one."

Sky nodded, sitting down. Zoe passed her a plate and something that wasn't quite spoon and wasn't quite fork. Sky looked at it, she hadn't seen anything like it. Jayne laughed, "You from the Rim? Judgin' by your face you ain't never seen a spork before."

"Spork? Huh..." Sky used it to attack the food in front of her. She was twice as hungry as she should have been. _Maybe it's the arms and legs._ Sky sporked her way through a plate of protein in a minute. "Um, are seconds allowed?"

Mal frowned a little, "Who's been feeding you? Seconds are fine, keep eating however much as you want."

Sky replied by shoveling another mass of whatever she was eating, she didn't slow down enough to look or taste what it was.

Jayne looked at Sky shoveling in the food, "There's my kind of lady."

Kaylee smiled and hit his arm really lightly, "Shove off, Jayne. Sky probably doesn't want any of it. I hope for her sake that she doesn't." Sky was too busy with her fourth plate of food to answer.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky walked back to her room after dinner. _Things on this ship are so quiet, much different than life in the military._ Sky closed the door behind her, pulling her gloves off. She switched into the one short sleeved T-shirt and the one pair of shorts that she had kept from the hospital. The new limbs weren't uncomfortable at all, something that Sky hadn't expected. _People with prosthetics usually don't like them. I don't like these things, but at least they are comfortable._ She ran her hand over her right shoulder, the shoulder that was covered with plastic because her arm had been amputated at the shoulder. The plastic almost reached her neck, and extended down several inches from her armpit.

As an experiment, Sky tried scraping the back of her hand as hard as she could against the corner of the table. Her hand was completely unscathed, there were no scratch marks to speak of. _I'm impressed, but how could they expect me to just live with people with arms and legs like these. I'm more machine than human._ Sky rubbed the side of her stomach where plastic had replaced her skin. The doctors had done an excellent job with this, the plastic was flush with the skin, making it almost undetectable if you had a shirt on.

Sky opened up her backpack, withdrawing the folder that she had taken from the hospital. Someone had written "Check under bed! -Dr. Cunningham" on the front cover. _What the heck is this supposed to mean?_ Sky opened the folder, reading through the contents. There were a ton of injury reports, one for each limb and her stomach. Her right arm had to be amputated at the shoulder because of shrapnel injuries and a piece of lead that had sunk straight into her bone and couldn't be removed. Both of her legs were cut off by shrapnel, the doctors had just cleaned what was left. Her left arm had been half torn off by a piece of shrapnel, but got stuck on the wall next to her as she fell, ripping the whole thing off. Sky rubbed her forehead. There had been a ton of shrapnel removed from her body, smaller pieces that had sunk into the skin. Sky looked down at scars on the skin that she had left. Her plastic fingers couldn't feel the difference between the scarred tissue and the regular skin when she slid them over. _I can't even feel my own skin anymore._

Sky skipped most of the rest of the reports. She pulled out the report on the Reaver attack. _This barely gives any detail. Only one survivor, me, a bunch of MIA's. At least it gives the coordinates. Hopefully I'll be able to get Mal to take me there. He seems like a respectable pilot, though, he might not go anywhere near a Reaver wreck._ Sky dropped the folder back into the backpack, unable to understand what the rest of the reports meant. They were about her limb implants, and way over her knowledge.

Sky opened the backpack again, pulling out the honorable discharge that she had received. _Why did I even keep this? Probably so I can tell myself that I'm not part of that anymore._ Sky lay down on her bed, pulling the sheets over her arms and legs. She would bring up the coordinates tomorrow, and hopefully get a little bit closer to finding Noon.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky woke up slowly, pushing herself into her pants, long sleeved T-shirt, boots, and gloves. She dragged her backpack after her as she went to find the shower.

The main bathroom was in the room in front of the infirmary, a common room of sorts. Sky knocked on the door, closing it behind her when no-one answered. The shower inside wasn't fancy, but definitely better than most of the ones that Sky saw in the military. Sky turned on the water, instinctively using her arm to test the temperature. _Oh, right. I'm just going to have to hope it's the right temperature when I step in.  
_  
Sky stepped in after taking off her clothes. _I'm going to have to find out where to wash those, I only have three sets of clothes._ The water was cold when it touched Sky's skin. She turned it up, stepping back so that it only fell on her legs while she waited for the water to heat up. The shower felt strange on her plastic arms and legs, the sensors didn't know quite what to do about all of the little impacts of the droplets, so it just sent a buzzing feeling. _Kinda like when your leg falls asleep, but it doesn't hurt._ There was some soap laying on a small shelf, so Sky used it to rub down every plastic part that she could reach. _Figure this stuff doesn't keep clean like skin does._

Sky stepped out of the shower when she was done, using a towel to wipe the water off of her plastic arms and legs before pulling on her clothes.

Sky walked out of the bathroom, dropping her backpack off at her room, making sure to put the sheet of paper with Swift's coordinates in her pocket. She headed up to the mess hall, looking for Mal. _Time to ask about Swift. And get some breakfast._  
XXXXXXXXXX  
The crew was already gathered in the dining room, eating whatever they could find. Sky sat down in a chair, pulling over a plate and fork.

Jayne spoon something mushy into his mouth, talking after swallowing. "No spork today?"

"Guess not. I have to ask you something Mal." Sky turned to face Mal.

Mal looked up from his toast, "And what would that be?"

"I don't know if you do this, but I was wondering if you could check out a dead freighter, it may still have some good cargo on board."

"Don't suppose there's a reason this thing is dead is there?"

Sky looked down at her cereal, "I was being transported on it after I received combat injuries, and it was...attacked by Reavers. They must have missed me because here I am."

Mal put his toast back on his plate. "So you want me to take my ship into an area that Reavers have attacked before so that we can check on a dead Alliance ship? That doesn't sound like a good idea."

Sky dropped her spoon, "Sir, I just want to find out what happened to my brother. He went missing in action after the attack, and I was in a coma or something during the whole thing. He's all I have."

Mal shook his head, "I'm sorry to hear that, but we're already on our way to get another job after we make a little stop and our contractor doesn't like to be kept waiting. You can get off at either our next stop or when we meet up with our contractor. Besides, I don't like taking orders from Alliance soldiers."

Karl, the man with the glasses, spoke up, "Why are we stopping at the next planet?"

Mal picked up his toast. "Because you are an Alliance agent."

Karl sat up straight, "What? What are you talking about?"

Mal smiled at him. "You thought that you could get away with it on a ship with a reader?"

Karl jumped out of his chair, frantic. "What are you going to do with me?" He backed up against the wall.

"We aren't going to do anything unless you do something stupid. I would suggest not doing anything stupid. All we're gonna do is drop you off at our little detour, don't worry about it. I'm afraid that you aren't going to be able to leave your room until we land though."

Karl backed out the door, running down the ladder to his bunk. Mal stood up, fixing his suspenders. "Now, I can tell that you're going to do something stupid." He strode out of the room, climbing down the ladder after the agent. Zoe fast walked to the ladder, climbing down right after Mal.

Sky watched as they left the room, "What was that all about?"

Jayne jerked his thumb towards Miles and River. "Moonbrain and Moonshine over there are from that Academy place that was all over the news a little while ago."

"Is the Academy that place that messed with people's heads or something?"

Kaylee piped up, "Yeah, it was kind of hard to miss, maybe two months ago."

Sky took another bite of cereal, "I was kind of out of the loop back then, military had me stationed on the front lines."

Kaylee looked a little surprised. "You were front line? During that rebellion a couple months back?"

Sky nodded. "Yeah, I followed my brother into it. I could never kill anyone though, I shot my gun once during the whole thing. And I missed that shot."

Jayne pulled his bowl away from his face, "You some kind of pacifier or somethin'?"

"Well, I'm a pacifist if that's what you mean."

"So you don't...shoot anyone?"

"No. There's never any reason to shoot anyone. I was a mechanic during the rebellion so I wouldn't have to shoot anyone."

Jayne frowned, "Well, whatever floats your boat. I don't think I've ever not shot anyone. Unless I punched 'em in the face. Can you punch people in the face?"

Sky gave a meek smile. "No, I don't punch people in the face either."

Kaylee gave a huge smile. "That's the best way to do it. Unless someone makes fun of Serenity, then I'll put my foot in their face."

Simon smiled at that, bumping a little bit into Kaylee. "It's true. She's vicious."

River stood up, walking around the table to Sky's chair. "Uh, hey River."

River spun around, kicking Sky in the back of her shoulder. River screamed, "She's made! The Alliance made her!" Sky was thrown into the table, her body folding around its edge. The breath flew out of Sky's body, leaving her gasping on the floor. Jayne grabbed River from behind, holding her in a bear hug. "Come on Moonbrain, don't be doin' this again."

Miles had pushed his chair back. Sky could see his face from where she lay on the ground. It was twisted with barely contained rage. Kaylee was standing in his way, trying to keep him calm.

Sky coughed up blood in her mouth, the blood staining her lip.


	5. Chapter 5

Dead Sky Ch5

Dead Sky Ch5

Sky sat down in one of the chairs around the dining table. She wiped blood off of her lip with her gloved hand, looking at it for a second before dropping it into her lap. "Ow."

River struggled a little bit in Jayne's arms, but he held her still. She ceased struggling after a minute, her muscles slackening.

Jayne used a low voice, "Are we good?"

River nodded her head once, and Jayne let go. Simon led her away from the table and down to their room. Miles, on the other hand, was still pacing, but looked much better than he had a moment ago. Kaylee managed to stop him and give him a hug, and Miles buried his face in her shoulder. They moved back towards the engine room.

Sky stood up, twisting her arm back and forth to stretch out the shoulder. River had kicked her right in the spot where she didn't have plastic, though Sky didn't know whether it was by accident or through that "reading" that the others had talked about.

Sky looked around the room, it was empty except for her and Jayne. _Everyone else must have left after the Alliance agent ran away._

Sky looked up at Jayne, "So, what was it that you wanted to tell me about River?"

Jayne sat down in the chair next to her and told her about River's stay in the Academy,and that Miles was from the Academy too. "Little pipsqueak doesn't look like much, but he gets angry. Big time angry."

Sky nodded, she had seen that much from his face, his eyes had flashed a deadly green each time he turned during his pacing. "So the Alliance messed with their heads?"

"Blue Sun was the one that messed with their heads, but Alliance had a big deal in it. River can read thoughts and is pretty much a killin' machine. Miles is pretty normal, but he gets really pissed whenever anything happens to River. When that happens you better watch it, he'll kick your pigu to kingdom come."

Sky murmered to herself under her breath, "Alliance didn't just mess with them."

Jayne turned, "What was that?"

"Oh, nothing." Sky pulled over a plate of food. It wasn't hers, but she didn't care.

"So where are you from? You're obviously not from the Core." Jayne looked at Sky. "No offense."

Sky brushed back some of her hair. _I'm going to need to find some way to keep it back._ "I'm from Percell. It's a farming planet near Beylix. That's why Noon went into the military, all of those smugglers on that moon made him mad."

"So why'd you follow him? You can't even punch any enemies in the face."

Sky pushed her now empty plate away, pulling another one towards herself. "I followed him because he was all that I had left. My parents died a while back, so Noon just went and joined the military. I didn't want to get left behind so I followed."

"Mal's not going to like you bein' Alliance. You should be able to stay until we reach Persephone."

"He didn't want to go to Swift. That's all I want, is the chance to find Swift. I just want to know what happened to my brother."

"What makes you think that they didn't drag Swift off somewhere?"

"You pick stuff up in the military. The Alliance doesn't like to mess with wrecks that were attacked by Reavers."

Inara walked around the corner and into the dining room. "Oh, hey Sky. What happened here?" Inara looked over all of the chairs strewn around the room.

Jayne leaned back in his chair. "River went nutso again. Kicked Sky in the back. And that Karl guy turned out to be Alliance."

Inara sighed. "Things always have to happen on this ship, don't they."

Mal appeared around the corner. "That's the way things work on Serenity. You okay Sky? Simon told me about River."

Sky nodded, "Yeah."

"Well then we have to talk. River doesn't just flip out for no reason."

Jayne cut in, "River flipped because Sky was talking about the Alliance military."

"You're being awfully protective today Jayne."

"No I'm not. Just lookin' for some breakfast." Jayne grabbed the piece of toast that Sky had half eaten off of her plate and left, walking towards the cargo bay.

Mal watched him leave before turning to Sky. "So, you were talking about the Alliance when River flipped out? I guess that makes sense. Don't suppose there was some other reason, was there?"

Sky stood up, adjusting her gloves. "No. Sir."

"You really don't need to call me sir you know."

"Sorry sir. Oh, sorry again."

Mal laughed, "Well I don't really care either way, if you feel comfortable like that be my guest. It'll be like havin' two Zoe's on board. Alright, I guess that's all that I need to know."

Sky nodded, brushing hair out of her face. "Thank you sir."

Inara noticed Sky's hair. "You want something to hold that back? Looks like you're having some trouble there."

Sky smiled, "That would be nice."

Sky followed Inara to her shuttle. Mal chuckled under his breath, "Sir," as Sky left the room.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Inara pulled out a box once they had returned to her shuttle, passing it to Sky. Sky looked around the shuttle, looking at all of the fineries. "This is...impressive."

Inara smiled at Sky. "Thanks, it's much better than the bare walls of a shuttle."

Sky felt one of the drapes, "It's a but much though, what is it that you do?"

Inara looked surprised, "You didn't figure it out from what Mal said when we first met? I'm a Companion."

Sky opened Inara's box, pulling out some hair clips. "What's a Companion?"

Inara frowned a little bit. "You don't know what a Companion is?"

"Uh, no. I'm from way out, Percell. Not much happens around there but farming."

Inara sighed. "Well, a Companion spends time with people for money, whether it is doing one thing or another. We're regulated by the Companion's Guild."

"So you're a whore?"

"We're more high class than that."

Sky tilted her head, "A high class whore?"

Inara squeezed the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "Yeah, I guess. If only Mal could see me now."

Sky didn't catch the last part, she was tying her hair up. Her fingers were clumsy with the gloves on.

Inara smiled, "Let me help you with that." She started to pull Sky's hair up. "Why don't you just take off the gloves?"

Sky pulled her hands close to her chest. "No thanks."

"Why's that?" Inara's hands were deft with Sky's hair, pinning it together expertly with the hair clips.

"I like these gloves." Sky tried to rub the dried blood off of one of the gloves.

Inara finished with Sky's hair. "Suit yourself. Here, take a look." Inara passed Sky a mirror.

Sky took a look. Her hair was pulled into an intricate pattern on her head. "It's awfully fancy."

Inara smiled, "Isn't that a good thing?"

Sky gave Inara the mirror back. "Sometimes but not always." She left Inara behind.

Inara ran her hands over the mirror, wondering what it was exactly that Sky had meant.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky walked out of Inara's shuttle, leaning over the scaffold railing. Jayne was below, working out. Miles was doing push ups on the floor next to him. Sky walked down the stairs to the floor, pulling clips out of her hair.

Jayne heaved a massive bar out of the way, sitting up on the bench. "Why you doin' that?"

Sky shook her hair out, undoing the pattern that had laced her head. "Too proper and nice. Proper and nice aren't the way that the 'verse goes."

Jayne laughed. "Yeah, I hear that." He adjusted one of the weights on his bar, laid back down on the bench and started to work the weights again. "So, what do you plan on doin' when Mal drops you off?"

Sky pulled her hair back and clipped it so that it didn't move into her face, making sure that it was at least as far back as her ears. "I don't know, try to find some way to get to the ship I was on before. If I run out of money the only place I have is back to the military, which I don't want to do. Front lines are fine with me as long as I don't have to shoot anyone, but they'll take me and stick me in parades and advertisements and pretend like they care when they don't."

Miles sat on the floor cross legged. "You don't mind being on the front lines?"

"I hate the battles and the death, but being with a squad of buddies that you know care for you because you care for them is the best thing that I've ever felt. You know, I never saw a single other female soldier on the front lines ever, but I still didn't care. Things were good back then, with Noon and the rest of our buddies."

Jayne finished another set with his weights. "You said you were injured before, when you were talkin' about that cargo ship. What was that about?"

"There was a...I'd rather not talk about it."

Jayne nodded, standing up from the bench. "Okay. I'm going to go take a shower, so you can finish up whatever you want Moonshine." Miles nodded and pulled himself up for some chin ups. Sky followed after Jayne. _Maybe I'll see what happened with that Alliance guy._

Sky walked into the common area out in front of the infirmary. Simon was working in the infirmary, reorganizing whatever it was that he had stored in there. Sky wandered into the dorm section. Zoe stood outside of one of the doors, leaning against the wall with a shortened rifle in her hands.

"Hello, Sky." Zoe kept her eyes on the door.

Sky rubbed her arm, "So what happened with him? Ma'am."

"It's hardly necessary to call me ma'am. And this guy is being quiet for now, I think that he's realized we aren't gonna do anything to him."

Mal clambered down a ladder to stand next to Zoe. "Well, we're only about an hour away now, so we won't have to hold him too long." Mal turned to Sky, "You can stay with us for now, you won't find what you're lookin' for in this place, there's not much of anything on this moon. Our next stop is Persephone so you can get off there."

Sky bowed a little, "Thank you sir."

Zoe switched her grip on her rifle to one hand. "You want to talk to him again sir?"

"Yeah, I'll..." Mal stopped when he saw the distress on Sky's face. "Now when she says I'm goin' to talk with this guy, I'm actually goin' to talk to him. Nothin' more." Mal stepped through the door, closing it behind himself.

Sky wandered back to her room, hoping to spend the next hour in peace.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky had spent the past hour looking over her folder and taking a few minutes to get some extra sleep. She didn't even realize that the ship was approaching it's landing until it started to shake from entry to atmo.


	6. Chapter 6

Dead Sky Ch 6

Dead Sky Ch 6

Sky walked up into the dining area, looking to see what would happen with Karl. Sky found Kaylee sitting in the corner with Simon. Sky pulled up a chair from the table.

"So why exactly did the Alliance post this man on the ship if he was found this easily?"

Simon had his arm wrapped around Kaylee and was leaning back in his seat. "They probably just wanted to keep tabs on us, and hoped that he wouldn't be found. Maybe they knew he would be found but they stuck him on to sneak a peek at River, however small."

Kaylee adjusted her shoulders under Simon's arm, pulling her hair out so it wasn't stuck between her head and Simon's sleeve. "Who cares why they planted him on board, at least we know that he didn't do anythin' and that we're getting him off."

Simon smiled, looking over at Kaylee, "That's my Kaylee. We should be landing soon, River'll probably want you in the engine room."

Kaylee nodded, scurrying out of the dining room and towards the engine room. Simon sighed, watching her leave.

"You really love her don't you."

"Yes, I really do."

Sky smiled, walking into the kitchen area. _Nice to know someone can make things work. It's not like I'll ever be able to have that with these...things._ Sky pulled out a protein mix, sticking it into the micro oven.

Simon cocked an eyebrow, "You sure do eat a lot for someone your size. Seriously, you're only around what? Five foot four or five? You eat a lot more than even Jayne, and that's no easy feat."

Sky found a spoon laying on the counter in front of her, wiping it off on her shirt. "I guess I have a fast metabolism or something."

Simon laughed, "Yeah, a really fast metabolism. The amount of food you put away this morning was inhuman." Sky stopped completely still for a moment, looking down at her spoon. The oven next to her began to beep, her food done. "Aren't you going to eat that? What? Is something wrong?"

Sky shook her head, bringing herself to reality. "Sorry, it's just something that you said. It's nothing." She opened up the microwave, her appetite almost gone. Almost. _Gorramn things make me eat like an animal._ The spoon wasn't very effective, but it did the job. Sky took a few bites of the mix. _Inhuman._ A tear ran down her face. The tear dropped at the bottom of her chin into the protein mix. Sky stared at it for a minute before taking another spoonful. "I'm going back to my room."

"Sky...What is it?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Sky left, leaving her plate behind.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky felt the deceleration as Serenity pulled in to land, finally settling with a dull thump. Sky had spent the last fifteen minutes just sitting in her room, not doing much in particular, looking at her discharge. _Things were simple, and people were my friends. Now I'm being forced onto Persephone, one of the most unfriendly places in the 'verse, and I'm not even a whole person._ After only a few minutes Serenity took off again, the ascent much shakier than the way down. Sky thought back to her first military airlift, the first time that Sky and Noon were ever taken off of Percell.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
"Scared?"

Sky shook her head, "You wish."

Noon adjusted his uniform, trying to make it fit a little bit better. The outfitting unit on Percell didn't have anything Noon's size, he was six foot five. "I can't get the gorramn sleeves down past my elbows."

Sky laughed, her uniform wasn't a very good fit either because it was made for a man that was several inches taller than her. "I don't even fit in mine. I can't believe that they didn't have a single uniform for a girl."

Noon stopped tugging at his sleeves, settling back in his chair, "I bet they do, but they probably weren't expecting people like us to join up from a little planet like Percell, huh?"

"I'll bet they didn't know people grew your size out here."

Noon laughed. Nothing he had ever owned fit him well without some serious refitting, something that Noon had to do himself with extra cloth and thread.

Sky made herself a little more comfortable, the military transport certainly wasn't the most comfortable thing that Sky had ever experienced. "I'll bet you that we never see a single female soldier while we're out here."

"It's a bet then."

Sky leaned back in her seat, the vibrations shaking her body. "So where do you think we're going?"

Noon snorted, "You never were one for current events, we're probably going out to fight in that."

Sky blinked, "We're goin' to have to fight?"

"You probably won't, but I will."

Sky shook her head, "I'm not leaving you. I don't care what happens." She lay back in her chair, letting the vibrations of the ship bring her into a bumpy sleep.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky smiled, the memories fresh. Sky ran through her military career in her head, not a particularly successful one, but not in any way a bad experience. Serenity had stopped shaking, and was well on its way to Persephone. The trip would take some time, that much Sky knew from interplanetary studies from school. Sky settled in for the wait, her stomach already growling.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky had managed to last for a few hours alone in her room, just thinking about old times. Her stomach was grumbling every few minutes now, she hadn't eaten in a while. Dinner was in only a few minutes, so Sky left her room to wander around for a bit. Sky wandered up the ladder in front of her room. Sky could hear Kaylee tinkering around with something in the engine room, so she went to investigate.

Kaylee sat on the floor playing with a small part that Sky didn't recognize. "Simon? Is that you?" Kaylee finally looked up from her work, "Oh, hey Sky. Didn't expect you to come wandering into the engine room." Kaylee stood up and placed the piece on a shelf, wiping her hands on her pants.

Sky looked around the room, bewildered at all of the mechanics and electronics that filled the room. "Yeah, I heard you working on something in here and decided to check it out. This is some uh...complicated stuff."

Kaylee nodded, "Some of it's kinda tricky, but it's pretty simple overall. I thought you were a mechanic, you should be able to make sense of it."

"Not one bit, I didn't actually work as a mechanic during the war, I just pretended that I knew what I was doing so they wouldn't take me off. I was out there to stay with my brother."

"Weren't you afraid you would get shot or something? What if you died on the battlefield."

Sky sat down on the floor. "I don't know, I kind of just told myself that I wasn't going to get hit at all."

"I thought that was why you were on the transport when it was attacked."

Sky nodded, "Yeah."

Kaylee stood and sank into her hammock that was strung in the corner, a brightly colored thing made of cloth. "What happened?"

"Friendly fire accident."

"Was it bad?"

Sky flexed her hands, "...Not really."

Kaylee smiled, "Well at least that much is good. It's too bad about your family though, especially your brother. When did your parents die? If you don't mind me askin'."

"Oh, they died a little while ago, when I was eighteen. They were in an accident back on Percell."

Kaylee sat up in her hammock, swaying slightly from the movement. "Percell? I'm from Percell! Whereabouts?"

"Close to the Ros River, Kane Valley."

Kaylee nodded, "I lived near there. Boring as guai to grow up there, that's why I picked up bein' a mechanic from my grandpa, and my Pa took over from there."

"Yeah, Noon and I used to be bored all the time so we would take junked things apart. We didn't know what the pieces did or how they fit together, but we took them apart anyways. That's how I faked being a mechanic, I would just take things apart and say that they couldn't be fixed. At least until I was put in a squad, they all figured out how useless I was after about a week but didn't really care."

Kaylee looked at the clock, "Oh, it's time for eatin'. Let's go get some food."

Sky left the engine room, Kaylee following closely behind. "You never told me your last name, maybe I knew your family even if I haven't been home for a while."

"My last name is Mooreson."

"Oh, were you related to the big tall boy with the blond hair? He was cute, I think his last name was Mooreson."

"That was my brother, Noon. What was your last name?"

Kaylee smiled, "Frye. We had a decent sized family over the hill, near Race forest."

Sky's brow furrowed as she thought, "It rings a bell, but I don't remember very well. I haven't cared about home for a long time."

The two were standing in the dining room now, Zoe and Jayne were already there and Mal was walking in from the cockpit, River in tow. Kaylee started to set the plates, keeping the conversation going, "Why's that?"

"There's nothing for me there. Once I find my brother he may want to go back and I will follow, but otherwise I see nothing there to return to."

Mal interrupted, "That's no way to think. I had a home planet once, it wasn't my favorite place but it was home, and I didn't realize that until it was destroyed. Remember that kid." Mal turned to Kaylee, "Hey mei mei, is there anything that we need when we get to Persephone?"

"Nope, we could use a part for the compression coil, but otherwise we're good."

"Compression coil, eh? Well we'll get another when we pull into Persephone."

River and Miles wandered into the room, Layla and Inara walking in from the other side. Zoe, Kaylee, and Jayne had finished setting the table, and Simon appeared from behind the counter with a bowl of food. Kaylee wrinkled her nose when she saw this, "It was Simon's turn? Oh boy."

Simon laughed, kissing Kaylee on the head as he passed. "I didn't cook, I'm just carrying it all over."

Jayne placed another bowl on the table, "Yeah, but even that almost makes the food bad. You've got a bad touch with food Doc."

Sky waited for the others to seat themselves before sitting herself, next to Jayne and Simon. "So you guys don't say grace or anything?"

River squirmed a little bit on the opposite side of the table, avoiding looking at Sky. Mal stopped his fork halfway to his mouth. "I'm not one for those types of words bein' said at my table."

Sky sat back, "Oh, I was just curious, it gets to be a habit when you're front lines. I never saw any truth in the words anyways, but they did calm you down more than a little. Nice little vacation in the middle of a warzone."

Mal smirked, "An agnostic soldier, now there's a dying breed."

Inara frowned. "Stop it Mal, you're being rude. And stupid."

The rest of dinner went quietly.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky woke up the next morning and took a shower first thing, grabbing an enormous breakfast afterwards. Everyone on the ship was busy preparing for the landing on Persephone, Jayne was organizing the cargo bay, River and Mal were in the cockpit, Zoe standing by in case anything happened. Kaylee was in the engine room with Simon at her side. Layla was in her room, probably getting all of her possessions together. Sky thought of her possessions, a small backpack filled with some clothes, a discharge, and a medical folder. _Simple._

Serenity rumbled as it entered atmo, throwing Sky a little bit. The ride smoothed out until Serenity slowed and sunk to the ground with a soft bump. Sky grabbed her backpack and snuck as much food as she could possibly fit in it, before walking down to the cargo bay. Jayne shoved a loose box into place, The rest of the crew appearing a little bit later. Inara and her shuttle were absent, away to meet with some old friends.

The door opened, light streaming through. Layla left first thing, barely even giving a good-bye. Sky watched the people pass by the ship, shrugging her backpack higher on her shoulder.

"Maybe we'll see you again sometime little one." Jayne walked over from the boxes.

Simon piloted an ATV past, Kaylee sitting on the back waving goodbye to Sky.

Sky gave a short wave, looking up at Jayne, "Well, here I go." Sky walked out of Serenity, pushing through the crowd.


	7. Chapter 7

Dead Sky Ch7

Dead Sky Ch7

Mal left Serenity with Jayne and Zoe. Simon and Kaylee would be back from getting fuel and a new compression...whatsit in a little while, and River and Miles would be safe until they did. Mal locked up the door to make sure they didn't run out and do anything stupid until Simon and Kaylee returned.

Mal led Zoe and Jayne through the crowds, pushing through groups of people.

"Why are we going back to Badger, sir? We could have gone somewhere else, or do something legitimate for once, sir. I don't like Badger."

Jayne grumbled from the back, "Little bugger likes his hat too much."

Mal knocked over a woman, helping her back to her feet before marching on his way again. "We're goin' to Badger because he has good jobs, with good pay."

"Why didn't we just check out that ship that Sky was talking about before, sir? It's not a long trip."

Mal shook his head, "We're not goin' there because I don't like it one bit. Reavers and Alliance military all at once. Last time we faced both Reavers and Alliance ended badly."

Jayne jogged a little bit to catch up to Mal's pace, "Miranda."

Mal stopped in front of a building that was made completely out of cargo containers. "Here it is, let's go."

The three walked inside.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Mal strode into the main section of the building, a a large room with an office desk. A small man sat behind the desk, his feet propped up, a bowler hat resting on his chest.

A thick cockney accent erupted from the man the second he saw Mal, "Well, well, well, look who something disreputable dragged in."

Mal put on a bored voice, "Hello Badger."

"Now I've been waitin' for you."

"And why is that Badger?"

Badger gave an evil little smile, "I've got a little job for you. I think that you may have already heard about it."

Mal looked back at Zoe, a confused look on his face. "Have we?"

"You may have heard of an Alliance freighter named Swift. It was attacked by Reavers, one survivor. Does it ring a bell?"

Mal stared at Badger, his eyes narrow. "What do you know about Sky?"

Badger pointed to the door, where a woman stood. She spoke up, her cockney accent extremely thick. "I sneaked a peek at her files. She keeps a lot of interesting little things in that folder of hers."

Jayne turned towards the woman, "Layla? What are you doin' here?"

Layla laughed, "You can't tell from the accent? He's my brother." Layla pointed at Badger. "And you are wasting his time. Just take the job, you wouldn't want to disappoint your little friend now would you?" Layla laughed, her tone mocking.

"What do you want us to actually do?"

Badger rubbed his knuckles, smiling again, "Just raid the thing. Take whatever you can, I'm expecting big money from this."

Mal walked out of the room, shouting out behind him, "Fine!" Zoe and Jayne scrambled to keep up.

Mal exited the building into the brightly lit streets of Persephone, the sun bright and piercing.

"What are we goin' to do now sir?"

Mal rubbed his hands together. "Lets find our lost passenger and go get paid."  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky stared down at her open backpack, peering out from under the hood of her jacket. She selected a small container of food, reaching her arm down to the bottom of the backpack to find an eating utensil. Her gloves weren't thick, but she couldn't feel anything on the bottom of her backpack. Sky pushed her few possessions out of the way, looking into the backpack to see instead of feel her way around. A fork lay at the bottom, where she had passed her hand over several times. _I can't even feel that._ Sky took the fork out, using it to pry open the container and start to eat the food.

Sky's initial attempts to find a ship were unsuccessful, no one wanted to cart around someone who didn't have much money to speak of. Sky had taken a break, finding a corner to sit in and get something to eat before going out and looking some more. Persephone had more people and ships than Sky had ever seen, including in the military. There were groups of people at every street and ships everywhere. Sky kept her face down, trying to avoid looking out at the crowd. The number of people that wandered back and forth was overwhelming. _Mal's right, I do miss home._ Sky's fork hit the bottom of the container, which was already empty. _What did I get myself into?_ Sky looked up from under her hood. A pair of boots stood in front of her.

Sky pulled back her hood, squinting up at the figure standing before her. "Zoe?'

"Yeah, let's go."

Sky was pulled to her feet and dragged after Zoe.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Mal watched Zoe approach, Sky in tow. Jayne stomped in from the opposite direction, his boots leaving huge footprints in the dust.

"I didn't find her Mal."

"You didn't have to."

Jayne followed Mal's eyes to Sky and Zoe. "Look at that. Kiddo got lucky."

Mal walked through the open door, Jayne following behind and a minute later Zoe and Sky.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky dropped her backpack to the ground next to her. Mal and Zoe were already walking away. Jayne walked over to the control panel, closing up the doors to Serenity.

"Why did you bring me back?"

"We got a job. Layla read your file and told Badger, we're goin' to find Swift or whatever it's called."

"Why did you need me though? You could have gone without me."

"Mal made the call to bring you back. Might as well anyways."

Sky ran to Jayne, hugging him tightly. Her head only reached up to his shoulder, so she had to wrap her arms around his chest. Jayne stopped, surprised, but let it happen. He held on to Sky's shoulder, "You don't have to thank me."

Sky shook her head, her hair bouncing back and forth behind her, "Might as well."

Jayne laughed, his voice echoing in the cargo bay.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky replaced her bag in her room, taking off her jacket. She rubbed her shoulder, feeling the joints shift slightly. Sky left her room, climbing up the ladder to the upper deck. The dining room was empty, so Sky walked down the hallway even further towards the bridge. River sat in her seat Miles sitting on the floor next to her.

"They're going to find out you know." River didn't move her chair to even check who Sky was.

Sky stepped back, "Find out what?"

River's tone was slightly hostile, "What you are. What you are made of." Miles shifted slightly on the floor, his eyes flashing green as they turned to face Sky, reverting to their normal deep black as he stared at her.

"What are you talking about? Made out of what?"

River turned her chair, putting her legs on the ground. "You think that you can hide it, but I know you."

Sky flexed her left hand, feeling the electronic nerves trying to simulate the sensation of gloves on flesh. "Please don't tell, they already got rid of me once."

River moved her chair back to its original position. "You can't keep it forever, Simon couldn't keep his secret."

"What was Simon's secret?"

"Me."

"Oh, wow." Sky sat down at the main pilots chair, looking at the controls but keeping her distance.

"I don't like you."

Sky turned, looking at River. "Why's that?"

"You are made, just like me. Only they made you physically, they made me mentally. Either way they had to use the room."

"What room?"

"The big white room." River turned as she said this, her eyes wide, visualizing the room. "With all of the machines and doctors." Miles gave a loud snort of anger from his stop on the floor. "Stop it Riv." Rivers eyes widened a little more. Miles stood up, anger flashing across his face. "Stop it Riv. Please, stop it. No, no, no!" Miles punched his hand into his fist, anger taking hold of him.

Sky stood up to help, but was unsure what to do. Miles didn't look like he wanted help, he was pacing back and forth in front of Rivers chair. Sky walked towards River, "River, you should probably stop now." River didn't move at all, though her eyes were closed now. "River?" Sky reached her hand out, touching River on the shoulder.

Sky's vision went white, her body drifting away. She looked down on an operating table, where someone lay. The person's face kept shifting, between River's and Miles'. The scene around Sky stayed the same, a large white room surrounded by machines. Doctors surrounded the table, preparing all sorts of equipment. Rivers face surfaced on the person for a few seconds, the eyes closing into sleep. Miles' face took over after that, still aware of the situation, his eyes twitching all around the room, never staying on one thing for long.

River suddenly appeared next to Sky, materializing like mist. "This is what happens when they make you. Manufactured." The image of Miles suddenly switched to Sky's face with eyes closed. The scene ended suddenly as the doctors leaned in over Sky's body.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky staggered back, tripping over her own feet onto the floor. Miles beat his hand on the floor, tears falling from his face. River's body suddenly jolted, falling out of the chair onto her knees. Miles shuffled to her and gave her a hug, anger still on his face but fading. Sky sat up, rubbing her temple with her hand. _Plastic._ Her glove had fallen off and lay on the floor beside her. Sky looked at the hand, moving each finger one after another. "You know, it's hideous but at the same time beautiful. It's inhuman, but it works. I like that, I like things that work. At least it does that much."

Miles looked at Sky, pulling away from River. River wiped his face, clearing away the tears. "You weren't made like us, but you were still made." Miles nodded, "Except that you can hide it."

Jayne ran into the room just as Sky pulled on her glove, covering up her hand. "What's wrong? I heard Miles yell something."

Sky tightened her glove, "It was nothing." Miles and River nodded.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky collapsed on her bed, kicking off her boots and sliding her hands out of her gloves. She pulled off her long pants and shirt and replaceded them with shorts and a T-shirt. _A good day._  
XXXXXXXXXX  
Sky woke up slowly, crawling out of bed and sliding into her clothes. _Mean headache._ Sky dragged her backpack after her as she wandered down the hallway to the shower. The hallway was cold, but Sky didn't notice because she wore her boots and gloves. The shower was hot, but Sky took only a short one because she was hungry. _Gorramn stomach can't go an hour without making noises._

No one was in the dining area when Sky got there, breakfast was already over. Sky checked the hallways, looking for some sign of someone. She heard voices coming from the cockpit, and wandered up that way. Mal, Jayne, River, Miles and Zoe were all in there, looking out the window. Miles and River sat in the pilots chairs, looking over the instruments. Mal stood in the center, watching out the window.

"How is she?" Mal looked towards Miles.

Miles swiveled his chair, looking over a scanner. Sky walked up next to Jayne, looking out the window where a large transport lay in the black of space.

"She's warm, her engines are still running."

Mal looked at Miles, a confused look on his face. "Active? She should be dead."

Zoe stood behind Miles, looking over the scanners. "The engines are running on minimum, enough for lights and air but nothing else."

Sky piped up, "What is it exactly that we are looking at?"

"It's your old ship. The Swift."


End file.
